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This week is National Farmers Market Week! Support the little guys by going to a farmer’s market this week!

I LOVE going to farmers markets. I think my adoration for farmers markets stems from the time I lived in Paris. While there are increasingly more and more supermarché in France, the French are blessed to have a thriving artisan food community. The French can shop for breads at the boulangerie, cheeses at afromagerie, meats from a boucherie, and of course produce from les petits marchés. Food shopping may take more time the “French way,” but then again maybe it should! When I lived in Paris I went food shopping nearly every day. I would pick up a few fresh veggies to throw into whatever dish I was making and of course my daily baguette. Let me tell you, shopping small lead to eating REALLY well.

My favorite market in the world: the Marché aux Fleurs in Nice, France

The closest I can get to replicating the French food shopping experience in the U.S. is at farmers markets. It’s not quite the same because I can’t simply swing by these places every day on my way home from work or school. Organizations like the Food Trust do their best, but the reality is that most neighborhoods in Philly only has access to the markets once a week. That’s a shame because it’s reallyhard not to eat well from food purchased at a farmer’s market. (Unless of course you just go for the homemade Amish sweets!) Talking to the person who harvested or created the products you are buying and later eating brings a sense of reality to the food you put on your plate. The reality of the matter is that if a person made it or harvested it, it can’t be too bad! When’s the last time you talked to someone who made a CheezIt? Yea… exactly.

Philly folk have access farmers markets from both Farm to City and the Food Trust. Of course, I can’t leave out all the incredible small vendors at Reading Terminal Market. You can usually spot me at the farmer’s market at the fountain on Passyunk, but going to the market at Headhouse Square on Sundays is such a treat! Outside of Philly? Find your nearest market at LocalHarvest.

This guide to which produce is in season is a god send and I couldn’t help but to share it here! Shopping seasonally saves TONS of money and you get the obvious benefit of eating produce when it’s at its prime! I love this time of year for all the fresh Jersey corn, blueberries, and tomatoes! Print it, post it on your fridge, and reap the savings!